An expansion of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, included a six-acre park and a children's garden that serve as therapeutic spaces for three pediatric research facilities and a new 12-story in-patient tower. An expanded lighting palette features energy-efficient fixtures that change colors, reflecting the hospital's new brand standards and the unique character of the neighborhood. The iconic Grove of Light, a series of illuminated masts, defines the gateway into the hospital campus.
Credit: Matthew Carbone

Ranked as one of "America's Best Children's Hospitals," Nationwide Children's Hospital has called the Near Southside neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio, home for 120 years. The neighborhood is one of the oldest in Columbus, and though the area has a disadvantaged past, it is the site of substantial investment and development activity today.

A recent expansion added a 12-story state-of-the-art in-patient tower, a third pediatric research facility, a six-acre park and a children's garden, cementing Nationwide Children's Hospital as a gateway to the historic Columbus neighborhood. The master plan for the site served as the catalyst for this transformation. The plan, developed from a vision of a cohesive and holistic healing environment, reaches beyond the campus itself and creates opportunities for the institution to be a good neighbor and integrate the campus into the surrounding community. The project expands the principles of therapeutic gardens to the entire healthcare campus and the community at large.

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Hospital Campus
The design for the new hospital park serves the needs of the hospital patients, visiting family and medical staff, while creating accessible space for surrounding neighborhoods. Adjacent to the historic Livingston Park, the new hospital landscape creates a continuous park along the northern edge of Livingston Avenue.

Children are the focal point of the six-acre Ann Isaly Wolfe Park at the hospital, which was designed to dynamically connect indoor and outdoor experiences, during the day and at night. Colored light weaves through the interior and exterior environments, encouraging exploration and sparking curiosity. A series of healing gardens provides an amenity enjoyed by patients and visitors of all ages. A sensory-rich maze of fragrant plantings includes lemon balm, wild thyme and chocolate mints. An intimate storyteller's garden, moonlight garden, running lawn, and long chalkboards for budding artists are some of the other featured spaces.

A series of illuminated masts, known as the "Grove of Light," defines the heart of campus. Additional lighting features throughout the campus's outdoor spaces offer playful and tranquil respite from the hospital setting. In the evening, the maze garden planters cast a softly glowing rainbow of light that match the color-changing headwalls in patient rooms. The park entry donor signage to the Ann Isaly Wolfe Children's Park, made from water-cut black slate resin panels and lit by energy efficient LEDs, casts a soft glow from Livingston Avenue at night. Nearby, the honey locust Bosque is uplit with in-ground pulsing lights, which create the sensation of a soft breeze rippling through the tree branches.

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The design team created continuity between interior and exterior spaces to provide a visual and physical connection to the natural materials and flora. This relationship is fully realized in the garden caf????(R)???(C), where virtual candles appear to float above the bluestone paving as they weave through the canopy of locust trees. The textured vine covered walls and mirrored glass of the below ground parking garage extend the indoor scenery outdoors into the park.

The design team was strategic in their approach to the site development and lighting design as it contributes to a "healing" environment. The client and team were interested in evoking discovery and joy, with an understanding of the potential healing effects that come with the mystery and beauty of subtle changes in the landscape's light. The luminous effects were made possible with the careful integration of LED sources. Simple details, including the combination of both white and tri-color chip LEDs, enabled a palette of effects that can recall the multi-color crayon packs of one's childhood, or better still, a fade from blue to white light that settles like syrup into an icy snow cone.

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The combination of white and tri-color chip LEDs allows for a range of programmed lighting scenes from the illuminated masts. The design for the six-acre Ann Isaly Wolfe Park at Nationwide Children's Hospital intended to dynamically connect the indoor and outdoor experiences visitors can have at the park, day or night.
Credit: Nick Fancher

Livingston Park
Livingston Park is Columbus's oldest park and a great source of pride for the Near Southside neighborhood. A large pergola structure, reminiscent of the old trolley sheds, creates an iconic centerpiece to the park. Beneath the pergola, a new plaza accommodates large crowds for festivals and markets, while clusters of picnic tables provide a place for family gatherings and cookouts. Internally illuminated cultural panels visible from Livingston Avenue weave an intricate story of the neighborhood's rich heritage through photographs, biographies, and anecdotes. The panels, made of 3Form Chroma XT resin and internally illuminated with LED fixtures, are framed in aluminum and composite wood.

Four story lines were developed for the cultural panels: the importance of the Near Southside neighborhood and its steel mills; the economic development of Livingston Avenue and the trolley line; the intriguing story of Livingston Park and its development from a cemetery to the first city park; and the personal accounts of nearby neighbors, including Eddie Rickenbacker, Chic Hartley and the Caroline Brown House and its role in the Underground Railway. At night, the illumination creates a glowing beacon to the neighborhood, a steady reminder of its heritage and a sign to the neighborhood's future.

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The centerpiece of the park is a significant shade structure, reminiscent of historic trolley sheds that once dotted the city's landscape. The plaza beneath can accommodate large crowds for festivals, markets, or other community events.
Credit: Matthew Carbone

Gateway
With the expansion of the hospital and planned improvements to the adjacent I-70/71 freeway system, the edges and approaches to the campus have dramatically changed. Streetscape improvements along the main corridors of Livingston and Parsons Avenues, new pavements, bio-retention cells for stormwater runoff and street trees frame the hospital campus and form the neighborhood's new identity. District landmarks have been proposed at the five key thresholds into campus; these elements are oriented with the urban street grid and are scaled to relate to both vehicles and pedestrians. Throughout the hospital campus and surrounding neighborhood, a consistency in materials, colors, and modern sensibilities was maintained. Each element was designed to be colorful and visible day and night, and the graphics and colors reflect the new brand standards and the unique character of the neighborhood, while the edges of the campus are demarked by iconic, illuminated gateway signs.

Together, the Nationwide Children's Hospital campus, Livingston Park, and adjacent streetscapes represent a city's and a hospital's commitment to healthier lifestyles and communities through built environment planning and design. Set within a traditionally disadvantaged community, the new and much needed open spaces are linked to neighborhoods by new tree-lined sidewalks, bike lanes and dramatic lighting elements, placing a strong emphasis on urban health and physical activity.

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The site renovation included a garden caf????(R)???(C), where virtual candles appear to float above the bluestone paving as they weave through a canopy of locust trees. The textured, vine-covered walls and mirrored glass of the below ground parking garage extend the indoor scenery into the park, providing a tranquil respite from the hospital setting.
Credit: Randall Lee Schieber

Teams
Owner/Client Nationwide Children's Hospital, City of Columbus Recreation and Parks

Nationwide Children's Hospital
Landscape Architect
MKSK/Olin
Civil Engineer
EMH&T
Contractor
Turner/Smoot
Electrical Engineer
HAWA Inc.
Irrigation Consultant
Irrigation Consulting, Inc.
Lighting Design
Horton Lees Brogden
Resin Panel Supplier
3Form
Structural Engineer
Jezerinac, Geers & Associates
Soils Consultant
CLC Labs
Subsurface Parking Garage Designer
Walker Parking Consultants
Tower Architects
FKP Architects

Livingston Park
Landscape Architect
MKSK
Civil Engineer
EMH&T
Contractor
Builderscape
Lighting Supplier
Holophane
Pavilion Architect
Meyers + Associates Architecture
Resin Panel Supplier
3Form
Structural Engineer
Prater Engineering Associates

Vendors Nationwide Children's Hospital Custom Planters
3Form (Chroma XT w/ LED lighting and black slate cap)
Light Sticks Design
HLB Lighting
Light Sticks Fabrication
Winona Lighting
Pedestrian Light Fixture
BEGA (8101 MH)

Livingston Park
Benches
DuMor (Bench 58-60)
Custom Benches & Wall
ACT Composite Timbers
Custom Light Panels
3Form (Chroma XT High Res)
Light Fixture
Holophane Granville
Shade Structure Panels
3Form (Koda XT)
Trash Receptacle
DuMor (Trash Receptacle 84-32)